Agent Montez
by lizdonaghy
Summary: She has a weird job. She was CJA14, or Agent Montez for short. As a certified jealousy agent, she "dates" boys who hope get their girlfriends back. Most important rule as a CJA?: Dont fall for your client. She always followed the rules… until now.
1. Chapter 1

**I found this buried in an old folder from a while back, I haven't written HSM in a **_**long **_**time… but this story interests me. Hope you like it (: **

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. Durrrgh. **

**_xox_**

"She wants me back!"

Those were the first words blurted out when Gabriella Montez had answered the private line in her room. Automatically recognizing the familiar voice on the other line, Gabriella replied enthusiastically.

"That's great, Aaron!"

"My God! You're so incredible! She apologized profusely, over and over. I couldn't believe it. She was practically begging me to come back to her." Aaron drilled rapidly.

"I'm so happy for you, congrats!" Gabriella beamed, twirling a long strand of her hair around her finger.

"It's all thanks to you. I owe you tons, Gab."

"That's what I'm here for." Gabriella laughed.

She meant what she said. That's exactly what her job _was _in fact. Her latest client, Aaron Parker, just got back with his ex-girlfriend…all thanks to Gabriella. You see, her job was to help desperate, lonely guys win back their girlfriends, through jealousy.

Gabriella, by name, is called a "Jealousy Agent". She is the most wanted girl in the business. She was great at what she did. Basically, her job required her to make a guy seem more attractive to a girl, by dating an irresistible fox, aka: Gabriella.

She had to admit, it felt weird to be used by guys. Being forced to make up a fake life and story each month, and most of the time she had to transfer schools under fake names. In a way, she felt dirty, but seeing the happiness that spread across a boy's face after a successful run almost made up for it. _Almost. _The rest was paid back with an extraordinary amount of cash.

"Another good case?" Gabriella's mom, Carmen asked, suddenly appearing at the door.

"Yes, mom." Gabriella smiled.

"Good girl." Carmen praised, quickly walking away.

Carmen was supportive about Gabriella's job. She _herself _was a former agent. Her identity had been revealed, so she was forced to change carriers. She transferred to beauty and fitness, which helped Gabriella a lot with concealing her real self during her cases.

Having your identity is the worst thing that could happen to a jealousy agent. To have your true self known is the equivalent to a spy who has blown their cover: it destroys the mission completely and could jeopardize the entire company.

"Mom, wait!" Gabriella called, suddenly hopping off her bed where she had been resting once she had ended the call with Aaron.

"What?"

"Can I get the blonde out of my hair?" She asked hopefully while fingering a loose strand that had been dyed in a honey tone, to join with the many other streaks in her naturally brown hair.

"No more blonde!" Carmen smiled in a suspicious way.

Gabriella recognized the tone in her mother's voice. She had obviously gained another case.

"What color now?" Gabriella sighed.

"Dark brown!"

"Brown?"

"With a couple highlights." Carmen admitted, reaching to run her fingers through Gabriella's block bangs. "Though…your bangs have to go back side swept."

Gabriella smiled to herself. She always liked her bangs to the side. Plus, dark brown was her natural hair color. "I'm liking this case already."

"I thought so." Carmen murmured, dropping a manila folder with "CJA: 07" plastered in bold letters, and in smaller print "EHS: Troy Bolton"

"Troy Bolton." Gabriella read out loud. "Where have I heard that name before?"

"He's the captain of East High's basketball team." Carmen explained, "Read up on him for a while, and you'll start school in a couple days."

Gabriella nodded and collapsed on her bed. Carmen turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

**CJA: Case O7**

**Name : Troy Bolton**

**Hobbies: Basketball, swimming, watching movies with friends.**

**Looks for in a Girl: Caring, mysterious, long brown hair and a nice smile.**

**Can't stand: When girls are overly self conscious.**

**Undercover Name: Trinity Porter**

**Hobbies: Cheerleading, Dance, Film**

**Looks for in a guy: ?**

**Can't stand: Arrogance. **

Gabriella smirked to herself. Trinity was into _dance_. Dance happened to be one of Gabriella's favorite hobbies…she's been doing 5 different kinds since she was eight years old.

She pulled over her phone and dialed the number posted at the top of the page. After a few moments, the line picked up.

"Hello?"

"Troy Bolton?" She asked.

"Yes? Who is this?"

Gabriella heard a faint sound of dribbling in the background.

"Hi, my name's Gabriella Montez. I'm your new girlfriend."

_**xox**_

**Its short, I know, but its basically a trial chapter I guess. Review if I should continue? **

**xo Hazel **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own, entirely fictional blah blah blah.**

**Okay, it's so weird to be writing about HSM again, but here ya go (: **

**BTW I blame all the reviewers if I happen to fail my finals. It's your fault I'm writing instead of studying. Even though I don't entire need to use anything learned this year… but maybe one day the square root of 4a^2+By-5C/2ab will help me. **

**Doubtful. **

Troy Bolton drummed his fingers anxiously on the counter, glancing up for what seemed like the fiftieth time. She wasn't here yet.

Granted, he showed up about ten minutes early, so there was still time.

He sighed and blew his shaggy hair out of his eyes, glancing at his phone once more. No messages and… thirty two seconds had past since the last time he checked. Now thirty… twenty seven…

He flipped it upside down.

_You're pathetic, Bolton_.

He didn't know _why _he was so nervous. He _should _feel pathetic. Faking a girlfriend is not something that he would do. He could get any girl at EHS… except her.

Sabrina was the head of the cheer squad, long brown hair, choppy bangs and fake blue eyes (she wore contacts). Every guy at school worshipped her, every girl wanted to be her, she was a goddess.

Troy wanted her.

They went out for about three months before Sabrina decided that she'd rather a _football _playing boyfriend.

The door chimes of the old diner rang, and Troy looked up so fast he was convinced he got whiplash. It was only an old couple.

"Calm down, soldier." A voice laughed, "I'm right here."

Troy turned around to the booth behind him, and there sat a girl. She was wearing an off the shoulder black shirt and what seemed like a designer baseball hat (the ones with the funky designs on the front). Her long brown hair was set into messy curls that flowed long past her shoulders and she had a pair of aviators covering her eyes.

As she stood up, Troy noticed she was carrying an oversized handbag, was wearing skinny jeans and black heels.

"Gabriella?" Troy asked as the girl slid into his booth.

"One and only." She smiled as she took off the sunglasses and set them on the table. "I couldn't stand seeing you tortured like that. You need to loosen up."

"You're here early." Troy stated with a nervous laugh.

Gabriella took off her hat and ran her fingers though her hair, "As are you."

"How did you know?"

Gabriella laughed, "I try to come earlier so I can see the type of boy I'm dealing with." She looked at him straight in the eyes, "I must say, you're much more attractive than my other clients."

Troy laughed, "Don't worry, I'm equally as pathetic."

A waitress with as a pink apron and roller skates came up and smiled at Troy, "Ready to order?"

Troy looked down and noticed that there was a plastic covered menu placed in front of him, "How long has that been there?"

Gabriella laughed and turned to the waitress, "Hi Becks, ill have the usual and he'll have a burger and fries."

"And what to drink?" She asked.

Gabriella turned to Troy, "Chocolate, vanilla or strawberry?"

Troy blinked, "For what? Er, chocolate?"

"One chocolate, one strawberry milkshake." Gabriella grinned, grabbing their menus and handing them to her. "Thanks."

As she rolled off, Troy turned to Gabriella. "You come here often?"

Gabriella nodded, "It's my favorite meeting place. It's really secluded so the chances of someone noticing us are like, none. Plus, my boss' son owns this place, so it's a frequent hangout for us agents."

"Agents. So official." Troy mused as a chocolate milkshake slid in front of him.

"It's our actual term." Gabriella shrugged, taking a sip out of hers. "Id rather that instead of 'girl who makes other girls jealous for a living'".

Troy smiled at her, "How did you know I like burgers? For all you know, I could be a vegetarian."

Gabriella dropped her voice, "It's all in your folder Troy. I'm professional, its very important I look up everything about you."

Troy nodded slowly.

Gabriella burst out laughing, "Loosen up! You're a teenage boy who isn't wearing makeup or ballet shoes; you're going to like burgers."

Troy laughed, "Oh, so I _don't _have a folder somewhere. That's a relief."

Gabriella smirked, "Oh, you have a folder." She reached into her back and grabbed it before placing it on her desk. She pulled out another one, but it was pink, "This one's Sabrina's."

Troy gawked at the amount of papers flowing out of his. "Why doesn't Bri have tons of crap in her folder?"

"Ah." Gabriella took out a pad and pen, "That's where you come in. You filled in your folder with your application, remember?" She snapped, "Crap, almost forgot."

She pulled out a clipboard and handed him her pen, "You need to sign this contract first. Company policy. You're party a. I've already signed as party b."

Troy scanned it, "Jeez, it's like a real contract."

Gabriella laughed, "Cause it is."

Gabriella watched his eyes glaze over when he started to read, "It basically says that I agree to be your girlfriend for the required amount of time needed to help gain the woman of your choice." She explained, "I agree not to reveal that I'm 'fake' if you agree not to compromise my identity or the company. We also can't date anyone else during the time that we're 'together' for that would compromise this whole case."

Troy nodded, reading the contract as she recited it. "What's this?"

Gabriella pulled it down so she could see what he was pointing at, "Oh, that says that we must do any physical aspects needed, such as kissing or whatever, to convince those not involved in this contract that the relationship is real. Oh, and I think the italics seem clear enough."

Troy read the words that were italicized:

_Sexual intercourse is not required unless both party a) and party b) consent and are both willing participants. _

Gabriella laughed to herself as she watched Troy's face change to a deeper shade of red as he quickly signed the sheets.

She took the top contract and handed it to him, "This is your copy. You must keep this _very_ hidden. It's very important that no one minus you sees this contract until all activities are over."

"Okay." Troy nodded, folding it up and shoving it in his pocket. Gabriella watched nervously.

"Or you could keep it?" Troy offered, "You know, I don't want to compromise anything."

Gabriella smiled and placed it in her bag. She pulled out a series of booklets, "These are just sheets. You fill them out to decide who I'm going to be. You make up my life."

Troy flipped through them, "All by myself?"

"No, I'll help you." Gabriella smiled, pulling out a third folder. "See, I have a folder too."

She smiled up at him, "I'm so glad you like the whole brown haired thing. I _missed _my natural color."

"You change your hair often?" Troy asked, as he took a bite out of a fry.

"Almost with every case." Gabriella explained, "I basically become the product of a guy's imagination. I just finished dying my hair back from blonde. I'm half Filipina; blonde does _not _work for me."

She reached into her folder and pulled out headshots. "These are some of the colors that I can offer." She explained, stabbing a piece of lettuce with the fork. "But please, don't change your mind. Keep me brunette."

Troy chuckled and handed them back to her, "No, you're beautiful this way."

Gabriella blushed as she took out more pictures, "Now, what sort of style should I have?" she changed the subject and started to point at the various outfits.

Troy shrugged, "I'm fine with what you're wearing now."

Gabriella laughed, "Remember, this isn't for you. This is for _Sabrina_. Which outfit would make her more jealous?"

Troy paused, "Sabrina reads a lot of fashion magazines. She takes them to class, she loves InStyle but she wears like, short shorts and designer shirts that cost more than my entire closet combined."

Gabriella flipped to her pictures and pulled out a couple of simple trendy outfits. "So like this?"

Troy nodded and watched as Gabriella placed them in a new folder and pushed the other ones on top of her discarded headshots.

"Okay, we've already decided that my name's Trinity, I'm a dancer and I've recently moved from New York." Gabriella listed as she scanned through her list. "Do you want us to meet and fall in school, or outside?"

"At school."

"I'm going to start school at East High on Monday, I've already verified that I'm in your homeroom class." Gabriella explained, "Now, how rich is Trinity?"

"What do you mean?" Troy asked. Gabriella handed a small binder of pictures.

"You can pick where I live, what I drive…" Gabriella smiled, "I told you, Trinity's a product of your imagination."

"How do I get to do this?" Troy gaped at a huge mansion, "How do you have 30 houses just lying around?"

"The agency." Gabriella admitted. "We may be a superficial business, but it brings in money."

The pair spent the next hour deciding ever aspect of Trinity's life. They also exchanged cellphone numbers. Once they were through and Gabriella's multiple folders were placed back in her bag she smiled up at him.

"So Troy, you excited for Monday?"

Troy shrugged, "More like nervous."

Gabriella ran her fingers through her hair, "I have to explain something to you really quickly. The next time you see me, I'm going to be a completely different person. Trinity doesn't know Troy Bolton. She will be new to this school, and you need to treat her like you would any other new girl."

Troy nodded as she continued.

"She may flirt with other boys, she might go on 'dates' with them, but in the end she will fall for _you_. Now, we've already made the game plan, stick to it. Its important Trinity settles before becoming Troy's girlfriend, if it's rushed, it looks fake. _Everything _I do is going to be for the good of this case." Gabriella leaned forward slightly, "Understood?"

"Understood."

Gabriella stood up and placed her glasses and hat back on. "You have to trust me. It won't work any other way."

"I trust you." Troy smiled softly. "But what if it doesn't work?"

Gabriella leaned forward slowly. When she was only a couple inches away, she whispered. "Don't doubt me, Troy. It will."

She leaned back and smiled at his shocked expression. "I'm a pro, Bolton. This is what I do."

She pulled her glasses down to reveal her eyes, "Before I leave here, you have to promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Don't fall for me. This is fake, you need to remember that."

Troy started to laugh, but silenced himself when he noticed her serious expression. "I wont."

Gabriella smiled and nodded, before turning to leave. As she was walking away, she heard his voice call out cheekily, "You have to promise me that you won't fall for me either!"

She kept on walking, laughing quietly to herself.

**Monday**

Troy pulled up in his old truck and grabbed his backpack off the passenger seat. He looked around the parking lot and saw no unfamiliar car, specifically, no yellow camaro with racing stripes, ala-Transformers.

_Gabriella isn't here yet_. Troy mentally checked himself, _Trinity. Her name's Trinity. _

As he opened his car door, a familiar afro tackled him, the body it was attached to started to jump up and down excitedly.

"New chick! She's hot!" Chad exclaimed, "Dude, you have to see."

Troy looked around once more for the yellow car, but didn't see. "What are you talking about?"

Chad pointed across the student parking lot, there she was.

Gabriella was wearing a short patterned dress covered by a leather jacket. She was wearing her black aviators from their first meeting and she was wearing a pair of black flats. Her hair was loose and down in beach waves.

She was currently leaning against a silver Honda Civic with what seemed to be a school map in her hands, her bag discarded at her feet.

"Dude." Troy murmured.

"I know right!" Chad whistled, "Dibs."

Troy smirked, "We'll see about that."

**Homeroom**

"Class, we have a new student today. Trinity Porter has just transferred, I hope you welcome her."

Gabriella sat at her desk near the back of the class, pretending to ignore the whistles that were shot her way. She could see Troy look back at her.

She spotted Sabrina in the middle of a group of girls, on her desk was a tall Starbucks cup and the latest issue of InStyle. She must have recently gotten blonde streaks.

She felt her phone vibrate in her purse. She glanced up at the board and saw _NO CELLPHONES _in big block letters on top of a recent drama advertisement.

"I love your jacket." A voice spoke.

When Gabriella looked up, she noticed that the girls surrounding Sabrina's were all looking at her. The girl who spoke was a fake blonde with too strong a spray tan. She too had a magazine on her desk and a coffee cup.

"Thanks." Gabriella took of her glasses and placed them in her bag.

"Did it feel good having to slaughter a whole cow?" She blonde continued, taking on a less sincere tone. The girls from the group laughed.

Gabriella just shrugged and looked at her notebook. She was used to getting bitched at.

"Oh shut up, you guys."

Gabriella looked up. She saw that it was Sabrina to spoke, causing silence from the rest of her group. "I think it's cute."

Gabriella smiled.

Sabrina picked up her coffee cup and walked over to the empty desk beside Gabriella's. She was wearing a tank top covered by a black vest, cut up short shorts and black flats. She was wearing long necklaces and bangles on her wrist. Her hair was twisted into a messy side bun.

"I'm Sabrina." She sat down and crossed her legs, "I was actually looking for that jacket. It's so hard to find, where did you get it?"

Gabriella smiled. _Sabrina's actually nice. _"I got it at a Guess outlet back home in New York."

Sabrina sighed, "God, I love New York. I would have killed to live there." She nodded towards the group of girls who were now sitting awkwardly now that their leader was gone, "Sorry about Leslie. She can be a bit of a bitch sometimes."

Gabriella shrugged, "I'm used to it. Thanks, though."

"Anytime." Sabrina smiled and stood up, walking back to her desk.

The teacher (who's name Gabriella already forgot) left the classroom and the general volume of the room lifted. Gabriella reached for her iphone and saw a message.

_Troy (9:23 AM)_

_- I thought we agreed on the Transformers car!_

She smirked to herself as she replied

_Outbox (9:37 AM)_

_- That's another thing that proved that you're not a vegetarian boy who does ballet. Every heterosexual guy picks the yellow camaro._

She watched as Troy reached for his cell phone that obviously vibrated in his pocket.

_Troy (9:38 AM)_

_- I bet you Bryn would have been jealous over it._

_Outbox (9:38 AM)_

_- Is she an overly hormonal teenage boy?_

_Troy (9:39 AM)_

_- You never know._

_Outbox (9:40 AM)_

_- She's nice. No wonder you like her._

_Troy (9:41 AM)_

_- and she happens to be extremely attractive._

_Outbox (9:41 AM)_

_- Did you know that a whole group of the girls who are sitting beside me are talking about you right now?_

Troy turned in his seat and looked at Gabriella with an eyebrow raised. Instantly his phone vibrated.

_Trinity (9:42 AM)_

_- TURN AROUND GENIUS. __People are going to think that we're texting! xP_

_Outbox (9:42 AM)_

_- … but we are. __You're not that great of a spy to not realize that._

_Trinity (9:42 AM)_

_- I'm better than you think, Wildcat (;_

_Outbox (9:43 AM)_

_- Wildcat?_

_Trinity (9:44 AM)_

_- The back of your jacket. Also, haven't you ever seen Speed ? Creeperguy calls Sandra Bullock wildcat cause he sees all. He's a great thumb-less spy._

_Outbox (9:45 AM)_

_- Is that the movie with the bus?_

_Trinity (9:45 AM)_

_- YES._

_Outbox (9:46 AM)_

_- I thought you were only pretending to be a movie freak?_

_Trinity (9:46 AM)_

_- Oh, that's just part of the Gabriella baggage. __I'm a filmfreak in real life, and you just gotta deal with that (: __I wont ruin Speed for you._

_Outbox (9:46 AM)_

_- technically you already did. I now know that there's a thumb-less spy._

_Trinity (9:47 AM)_

_- go and pay attention to your friends before someone gets suspicious (:_

_also, delete your previous messages after you read this one._

_Outbox (9:48 AM)_

_- will your message self destruct?_

_Trinity (9:49 AM)_

_- bye, wildcat (:_

**Reviewers get a cookie. **

**xo Hazel **


	3. Chapter 3

**I've worked on this all afternoon, I've finally gotten some time to write. This year has been so hectic… anyways, here you go (: **

**PS: many of you have probably heard, so I would like to take this moment to mourn the loss of something very dear to me. RIP ZANESSA :'( **

Gabriella stood at her locker which she spent nearly a half hour trying to find before first block. It was break now, and a lot of the students had left to watch a pep rally outside. She decided to stay behind and review her plan.

She reached into her huge bag and opened a hidden zipper, which held _Emma_, one of her favorite Jane Austen books. It was a decoy though, near the middle of the book, the pages weren't filled with classical literature, but sheets with various notes.

She took off her jacket and placed it in her locker, before locking it and heading outside. She put her aviators back on because it was so bright outside.

"TRINITY!"

Gabriella looked around to see who had called for her. Sitting on top of a black truck were Sabrina and the other girls that were in homeroom and about three guys. They were all staring at her. Sabrina waved her over.

Gabriella tucked her book under her arm and walked over. "Hey"

Sabrina smiled at her and turned to the others in the car, "Guys, this is Trinity. She's moved here from New York."

The guys nodded and stared in her direction. Gabriella smirked and waved.

The blonde girl from before hopped out of the back of the trunk and stood in front of her, "Trinity, I want to, like, apologize for before. I mean, your jacket was really cute. Sabrina told me after where you got it and I, like, realized that it was in the 'green' issue of People, so it's not even real leather."

"It's okay."

Blonde girl introduced herself, "I'm Leslie."

Sabrina jumped off the hood and pointed at people drilling names, half of which Gabriella didn't hear. She gave a smile and a simple wave.

Sabrina turned to her, "Where were you headed off to?"

Gabriella shrugged, "Just walking around. It's nice to be able to go outside at school and not hear the sound of traffic."

"Where did you used to go to school?"

"I went to LaGuadia."

Sabrina's eyes widened, "Isn't that the_ Fame _school? Jennifer Aniston went there."

Gabriella laughed and nodded, "Yeah."

"We _love _her." One of the other girls nodded. "Has she ever visited? Do you know her?"

"No." Gabriella swung her bag onto the other shoulder. "I'm guessing she's a bit too busy to come stop by her old high school."

"Oh," the girl pouted, "Such a shame."

"So," Sabrina hopped back onto the truck, "How you liking East High so far?"

"It's okay." Gabriella smiled, "I just need to get used to it, I guess."

Sabrina smiled, "We're all driving to the mall at lunch, you could come?"

Gabriella shook her head, "No thanks. I think I'm just going to stay here."

One of the guys winked in her direction, "Are you sure, Trinity? It'll be fun. I'd even let you ride shot gun."

Gabriella ignored him and waved as she turned to walk in the other direction, "See you guys later."

As she was starting to walk away, that guy hopped off the truck and caught up to her. "Yo, Trinity!"

Gabriella continued to walk, but let him follow her. "That's me." She smiled.

"There's a party next weekend, at my friend Brad's house. It's gonna be pretty sweet. Wanna come with me?" He shook his shaggy bangs out from out of his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets while he walked.

Gabriella slid her aviators off and placed them on top of her head. "I'm not sure, I mean, I just got here…"

"How else are you supposed to meet new people?"

"I don't even know my way around my block, let alone the city." Gabriella lied.

"Y'know." The guy turned so he was now walking backwards in front of her. "If transportations an issue, I could totally pick you up."

Gabriella smiled, "No, transportations not an issue. I have my car."

"No, I insist. I'll pick you up. So can you come?"

"Two weeks, already needing a date?" Gabriella smiled.

"Well, the minute I saw you, I knew I had to get in fast." David winked.

"Dirty." Gabriella laughed.

David grinned, "So, can you come?"

Gabriella paused before nodding. "Sure, why not."

"Here, just give me your number." He fumbled around in his pockets for a moment before sheepishly looking up. "Don't have a pen."

Gabriella reached into her bag and grabbed one as well as one of her notebooks. She wrote her number and quickly tore the sheet off and handed it to him. She also passed the pen and notebook to him.

He scribbled down his phone number and handed them both back. As soon as he left, she hastily flipped through to find the page.

_David, 555-2424_

Gabriella smiled, glad that she now knew his name. She pushed her sunglasses back on and headed towards the other end of the school, where the pep ralley was.

The school field was packed with people dressed in red and white. The amount of school pride at this school was nauseously cute. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing when she saw Troy get lifted up onto the shoulders of a bunch of strong, attractive basketball players.

_Now, this is a first. A cute and popular guy who needs help to get a girlfriend_.

She continued to walk until she finally managed to reach a somewhat secluded area, where she sat on a bench beside a tree and flipped open her book to the middle pages, where all her notes were. Gabriella sat there focused for a while when someone came over and sat beside her.

"Hey, whats up?"

Gabriella looked up and smiled, "Hey. You've got quite a crowd of worshippers here."

Troy shrugged and shook his hair out of his eyes, "I guess. I don't really think of it like that."

"Don't worry. It's cute."

Troy grinned and glanced down at her book, "So did you get an invite to the party yet?"

Gabriella nodded, and showed him the numbers on her school map. "Some guy named David who was hanging out with Sabrina."

"Oh, footballer. Good going, Gabriella."

"Trinity."

"Right."

"Anyways, is everything good on your side?" Gabriella shoved her book back into her bag.

"It's all good. I'll announce that I want to win you over after practice, in front of Bryn and them, and once the bell rings, I'll catch you in the hall, lost, and offer to bring your books to your car."

Gabriella nodded. "I'll be standing there confused at 3:40, make sure that Sabrina's out before you come find me."

**That afternoon**

Troy dribbled the basketball and eyed the net across the gymnasium. He felt sweat dripping down his cheek, but paid no attention. He could vaguely hear the sound of cheerleaders chanting in the background. None of that mattered in this moment. Nothing _ever _mattered in this moment.

His eyes shot over to one of his team mates, standing behind a member of the opposite team. Troy faked a pass to him and shot it over in the opposite direction, before sprinting down the court to where he was supposed to be in the next twelve seconds. He spun around the members of the opposite team, dodging them easily, and his eyes trailed the orange ball that was quickly being passed from player to player. Finally, he was in the perfect stance to do an easy lay-up.

He caught the ball that was whipped in his direction and threw it easily into the net.

The cheerleaders screamed.

A whistle blew.

Practice was over.

Troy grinned and wiped at his forehead with the edge of his shirt. He heard his dad scream something about hitting the showers. He felt a couple of congratulatory pats on the back.

"Good going, Bolton." His best friend Chad yelled before tackling him.

"Hey," Troy laughed before pushing him off, "Its only practice."

Chad scoffed and started off towards the showers. "This could count as a game. There are cheerleaders."

"Dude," Troy said as he opened the locker room door, "There are always cheerleaders."

In the corner of his eye, he saw Sabrina and the rest of the cheerleaders do a couple of cool-down stretches. In a panic, he slammed the door shut. He had almost forgot about the plan.

"Hey!"

"Sorry man," Troy apologized. "I forgot my bag on the bleachers."

Chad petted his hair, "That's no excuse to frighten the 'do."

"I'm sorry, 'fro man." Troy laughed, leading Chad back away from the locker room.

They jogged back over to the bleachers and Troy swung his gym bag over his shoulder. He walked closer to Sabrina and her group of cheerleaders. Loudly, he called over some of the other members of the basketball team who had been drinking water and organizing their things.

"Hey, what do you guys think of the new girl?" Troy asked loud enough for the girls to hear.

"Trinity?" Jason whistled, "Damn."

"Shes _fine_." Damian, another team member added, followed by a chorus of agreements.

"Would it be too early to ask her out?" Troy asked as he casually swung his bag over to the other shoulder.

"No way, man." Jason scoffed, "With the amount of guys wanting her, you _better _swoop in early."

Troy laughed and headed back towards the locker room. "I can't believe you just said the word swoop."

Pretending to crack his back, he glanced at the group of cheerleaders. They had huddled up, with the occasional girl glancing over at the retreating basketball team members. Troy smiled to himself.

After the showers, he reached for his phone in his bag, checking the time. It was almost 3:30. He had to rush if he wanted to beat Sabrina out.

"Do we have any homework?" Chad asked as he shoved his sweaty jersey into his gym bag.

Troy gave him a look, "Would it matter to you if we did?"

"Hey!" Chad defended, "If i'ma skip out on homework, I should at least know what I'm skipping out on."

Troy rolled his eyes and laughed, "Anyways, I'm off. See you later, man."

Chad nodded and Troy left. He glanced at the massive timer clock mounted on the gym walls.

_3:38_

He slowed down and pretended to tie his shoe. On the bleachers, he saw Sabrina's bag, so he knew she was still here. As if on cue, the door to the female locker room swung open and a chorus of girlie laughs filled the gym.

Without looking at them, Troy left the gym, and as planned, Gabriella was standing there leaning against a locker, bag dangling off her elbow and school map in her hands. There was a pile of textbooks at her feet and she had a confused look on her face.

Troy started to walk towards her. He heard Sabrina leave the gym, so that's when Troy sped up.

"Hey, you're Trinity, right?"

Gabriella looked up and gave a half smile, "Yeah, that's me."

"Having troubles getting around?"

Gabriella gave a convincing look of embarrassment. "Yeah, kind of. This school is massive."

"Here, let me help you." Troy smiled, glancing down at the map that she held in her hands. He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing when he saw '_Good going, Wildcat.' _written faintly across the paper in pencil.

"Did you drive here?" Troy asked.

Gabriella nodded, but didn't say anything else.

"You probably parked in the student parking lot. I'm heading out there now, I'll take you." Troy said his rehearsed line before leaning over to pick up the books Gabriella had placed on the floor.

"Oh, you don't need to carry those!" Gabriella protested.

"Please, its no problem." Troy easily lifted up the pile into his arms before using his head to point in a direction. "We should go this way."

Gabriella swung her bag onto her shoulder and let him lead the way. They had to pass Sabrina to get into the other hallway, so Gabriella looked at her and smiled innocently as she passed. Sabrina gave a simple wave. So far, Gabriella couldn't see that much jealousy in her eyes, but it was still early on.

"So," Gabriella turned to look at Troy. "Your name is…?"

"I'm Troy Bolton." Troy smiled, "I'm in your homeroom class."

"Oh, I know. I've noticed you." Gabriella smiled back, still well aware that they were still in listening distance.

"I'm pretty sure all the guys have noticed _you_." Troy laughed. Gabriella blushed.

"They're certainly very friendly."

"Only to the pretty girls."

Gabriella laughed openly, "Way to lay it on strong, Wildcat."

Troy laughed with her and they continued to walk towards the student parking lot. Troy looked down nervously, feeling the looks of the students who had stayed after school.

"How was your first day at East High?" He asked, trying to distract himself from the attention.

Gabriella smiled, "It was good."

Troy pushed the doors open for her and they walked outside.

"Which one's yours?"

Gabriella pointed, and they continued to walk together in the practically empty parking lot. Troy noticed that the truck that Sabrina's friends drove to school in was still there.

"Did you notice the amount of people looking at us?" Troy asked quietly, breaking the act.

That made Gabriella laugh, " star doesn't like people looking at him?"

Troy blushed, "I don't mind when I'm on the court…"

Gabriella took her books back from Troy and unlocked her car before shoving them onto the passenger seat, "Oh, that was nothing. Just watch later, it's gonna be _really _bad."

Troy bit his nail, "How bad?"

Gabriella smiled, "You'll see soon enough. Now, meet me back at the diner later tonight, okay? Text me."

Troy nodded. As he was doing so, the doors that they had just past through swung open and Sabrina and her posse walked though.

Gabriella reached out and hugged Troy, and she smirked to herself when she saw the eyes of one of Sabrina's blonde clones widen. The clone whispered something into Sabrina's ear which caused her to frown.

Troy hugged her back and waved when she got into her car.

"See you later, Wildcat. Thanks for the help."

Troy nodded, "Anytime." As she drove off.

One of the other basketball team members whistled, "Bolton's squeezing in on the new girl."

Sabrina frowned, "Yeah. I guess he is."

**Two weeks later**

The last two weeks had gone over better than expected. Over the couple days, the school was buzzing over the 'date' that Trinity and Troy allegedly had the weekend before. Some girl had seen them at the theater, watching a movie. They actually hadn't gone – the girl must have seen a look-a-like.

Trinity became instantly popular and continued to get hit on by various boys. Together, she and Troy started slowly moving forward with the plan. He continued to innocently flirt with her between classes and she continued to innocently flirt back. She could already feel the hate coming from some of the other girls. She continued to hang out with Sabrina's group – but just not enough to be friends with them. As the days progressed, she slowly started to feel Sabrina icing her out. It was all going according to plan.

She and David had planned their 'date' for the party. She was currently sitting in one of the agency's mansions in her abnormally large bedroom. The woman who was hired as a nanny/maid figure was currently running around the kitchen. Gabriella was doing the final touch ups on her make up when her phone started to vibrate beside her.

"Hello?"

"Hey, hun. How's it going?"

Gabriella smiled, "Its going good, mama. I'm just getting ready for this party thing tonight."

"That's fun" Gabriella's mom encouraged from the other end. Gabriella could hear the faint sound of something sizzling in a pan.

"You gonna bring food over?" Gabriella asked, spinning around on her chair.

"Not tonight, sweetie."

Gabriella frowned. Another downside of her job is she can't live at her own house for any of her cases. She missed her mom's cooking.

"Tomorrow morning," Gabriella's mom laughed, "I promise."

"You better!" Gabriella giggled before sighing. "I hate being away from home all the time."

"Don't worry. Two or three more months or so and you're done for the rest of this year."

"Thank God."

The doorbell rang.

"Gotta go, mama. He's here."

They said their goodbyes and Gabriella did one last hair fluff before walking down the stairs.

"Hey, you ready to go?" David smiled from the bottom of the staircase.

"Yep, all set." Gabriella smiled towards the nanny. "I'll be home later."

"Have fun, Miss. Porter."

Gabriella giggled as she walked outside the door, "Please, Maria. Call me Trinity."

David opened the door to his truck quite chivalrously and Gabriella stepped in, automatically getting a hit of cigarette smoke. She looked down and frowned at the mound of put-out cigarettes in the tray in front of her.

"I hope you don't mind that it reeks so much in here." He laughed.

"Its okay," Gabriella ran her fingers through her long, straightened hair. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and checked it.

_Troy (9:34 PM)_

_- you with david yet?_

_Outbox (9:35 PM)_

_- I'm in his cigarette-y car. We're on our way. Don't worry._

_Troy (9:36 PM) _

_- Can't wait (; _

Gabriella shoved her phone back into her bag and nodded along to whatever David had been saying. As he went off about football, Gabriella went through their plan mentally.

Since Troy was one of the more attractive clients she's had, aiming for an attractive girl, the easiest and fastest way for Troy and Sabrina were to get together was if Troy and Trinity became the perfect couple. They would do everything that Sabrina would want in a relationship, making her jealous and wanting that closeness. After a month of sweet-coupleage, Trinity would get bored with their relationship and become horrible, coincidentally leaving Troy 'upset.' Hopefully, Sabrina would take the bait and go off and comfort him and _blamo_.

Tonight was the night that Trinity and Troy would officially get together. Gabriella's goal was to get David so wasted that he would go off and forget that Trinity was his date.

The truck pulled up to the house. There were various preppy groups scattered around the front lawn, holding paper cups. Even though it was only 9:30, the place was packed.

Gabriella stepped out of David's truck and checked her phone. Flashing, there was a message from Troy that simply said the word, "Fountain."

David shoved his keys in his pocket and wrapped his arm around Gabriella, "C'mon, lets go get some drinks."

Gabriella didn't even want to ask how on earth they were getting home.

David led Gabriella through the house. She felt eyes glaring at her but she didn't really care. She saw faces that she sort of recognized among those dancing along. At the bar, she saw two girls from Sabrina's posse drunkenly making out with eachother.

_Well, that's high school._

David grabbed himself a cup and poured himself a beer from the keg. Gabriella grabbed a cup and went straight for the vodka.

"Wild girl, aren't you?" David raised his eyebrows.

Gabriella simply smiled and took a shot. She handed him the bottle.

"Mix them?" He asked, surprised.

Gabriella shrugged, "We did it back in New York."

As if that was a challenge, he poured it into his cup. He smiled at her and chugged it.

Gabriella smiled to herself. She knew another one of those would get him drunk enough. As he poured himself another drink, she quickly grabbed a pepsi to dilute the vodka in her cup.

David cheered after he downed his second drink, already feeling the buzz of the alcohol. He saw a group of other football team members across the room and led Gabriella over.

"Hey guys, you remember Trinity."

There was a chorus of grunts and nods in her direction.

"Dude," one of the guys turned to David, "I heard that a couple of the guys hot boxed one of the bedrooms."

Instantly excited, he turned to Gabriella. "Hey, babe, you don't mind if I leave for a bit, do you?"

Gabriella shook her head and watched him grab another drink then leave. As he started to walk up the stairs, Gabriella went off to figure out where the fountain was.

She left the general drinking area and explored around the house. The entire living room was filled with a group playing a mix of Truth or Dare, 7 minutes in heaven and what she thinks was strip poker and there was a ball-room type area where a bunch of people were dancing while a DJ spun tracks. She was about to turn and walk in the other direction when out of the corner of her eye she saw a balcony area behind the group of teenagers dancing. On the balcony was a small fountain.

Troy was leaning on the railing staring off into Brad's (the host of the party) massive backyard. Gabriella crept up behind him and covered his eyes.

"Guess who?"

"Hey you." Troy smiled softly, turning around to face her.

Gabriella pouted, "Not fair. You didn't guess."

Troy laughed, "Do you want me to turn around so we could do this again?"

Gabriella pushed her lip out and deepened her pout, "Maybe."

Troy glanced down at the cup in her hand, "You drunk?"

Gabriella shook her head, "No, not really." She showed him the inside of the cup, "I had a shot of vodka and then filled it with pepsi when he wasn't looking."

"A shot of vodka would still be enough to get someone drunk." Troy smirked.

Gabriella waved her hand around, "I'm not _super _drunk."

Troy laughed, "C'mon. Come with me. I need to get a refill."

The two walked through the crowd, once again ignoring the looks that they were getting, when all of a sudden a flash of brown hair jumped in front of them.

"Hey Troy!" Sabrina smiled. "Trinity."

"Hey Sabrina." Gabriella drank the rest of the pepsi from her cup.

"Can you believe its only 10?" Sabrina laughed, "Look at how drunk some of these people are!"

Gabriella looked around. Sabrina was right; there were a lot of slobbery people lounging around.

Troy smiled mischievously, "What, throwing up in a plastic bag in the corner of a crowded room doesn't interest you?"

"Not at all." Sabrina shook her head, "I only get wasted if I have a good excuse."

Troy laughed and placed his arm on Gabriella's, "This one here's pretty close damn close to being wasted."

Gabriella scoffed, "As if, Wildcat." She turned to Sabrina, "I've had one shot."

Sabrina frowned at the use of the pet name and eyed his arm on Gabriella's. To distract herself, Sabrina reached for Gabriella's cup, "Oh! Here, let me freshen this up for you."

"Oh, you don't need to do that!"

"Please, it's no problem." Sabrina insisted, "I'm headed that way anyways."

Gabriella smiled and said thanks. As Sabrina was walking away, the music playing on the speakers changed and a slow song came on.

As she was walking to the bar, David crashed into her.

"SABBY!" He yelled.

"Somebody's drunk." Sabrina giggled. David gave her a hug and her nostrils instantly started to sting. "And somebody's high."

"_Really_ high." David corrected, lifting a finger to point at her.

"My mistake."

"Where's Tiffany?" David slurred.

Sabrina pointed to the staircase, "Making out with Andy."

"NO!" David whined, "The _other _Tiffany! The one who took my keys!"

"… _Trinity_?"

"That's what I said!" David pouted.

Sabrina started to laugh and grabbed his arm to lead him back to the dance area where she had left Trinity and Troy.

"DON'T PULL ME. YOU'RE NOT MY MOM."

Sabrina didn't even hear that childish statement. She was too busy focused on Trinity. More specifically, Trinity and Troy.

Without another word, she turned quickly on her heels and walked in the other direction, leaving David in a state of confusion.

**review? **

**- Hazel (: **

**PS: the party stuff, kids, don't do it. drinking and doing drugs is bad (; seriously though. the last party I went to, there were cops, an ambulance, people getting their stomach pumped, a firetruck (im still confused about that one) and like... yeah. It's all fun until your friend gets sent home in an ambulance. **


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